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Topic: Monaco Rally- Totally Free (Read 3560 times)

Take a look at this. If I am reading this correctly Monaco is giving away for free what used to cost about $300 per coach to attend and EVERYONE is invited Monaco owner or not. The place should be mobbed!

After walking away from so many customers during the buyout they should give something away.

It's hard to attract new customers after sticking it to so many, no matter how good the product is.

That's the conversation I had with Mike Snell, VP Sales. I think he gets it, but from emails I have exchanged with Navistar they clearly did not get it. Hopefully the new Head of Monaco for Navistar will change that - but even if he does they have lost a LOT of customers. It really too bad. A few million in warranty work for "legacy" customers would have been the best PR/Promotional dollars they could have spent.

A few million in warranty work for "legacy" customers would have been the best PR/Promotional dollars they could have spent.

While I am not a Monaco owner, nor am I a Tiffin owner, but if you look at brand loyalty as a corporate investment, and then look at where Monaco is and where Tiffin is, as it appears to someone on the outside, there's a lesson for Monaco here. Ken, I think your point is right on the mark. It's cheaper to not lose a customer, than to try and buy him back or replace him.

Tiffin doesn't make a better coach but everyone knows Bob Tiffin cares and that makes a difference.

My point, Dick. Perception is an integral part of the customer experience. But your experience includes not only how well your coach is built, but how well your problems are handled when they arise.

When you abandon your customer base, which seems to be the chief complaint when large companies are bought out, restructured, what have you, it's going to take a much larger effort to clear that black eye, and just telling people you are the "new" whatever won't always bring that old group of owners back into the fold.

I really hope Monaco owners have their loyalty to the brand and their significant investment given its due by the new manufacturing group.

Willaim Osborne, the new head of Monaco, said he would like to address the problem of the "legacy" owners warranty problems.

I have a service appointment in Coburg in early October and was going to see how they handled it. I would be out of warranty now, but I paid out of pocket for factory service when I should have been under warranty. Unfortunately some family issues will probably keep us in Chicago until late September and then we will have to head to PHX and miss the appt. Maybe next spring.

The "old" Monaco, like Tiffin, went out of their way to assist owners after the warranty IF you came to the factory. I wouldn't have expected Navistar to do that, but they should have honored the basic warranty.

Navistar further "put their foot in it" when they totally dropped the ball for Workhorse owners on the brake issue. William Osborne is also now in charge of Workhorse. So maybe Navistar figured out they need to do things differently if they want to be in the RV business. I have some hope but only time will tell.

That's more than we ORPHANS have. I'm not complaining mind you, National was up front and in real trouble and I was out of warrentee anyway.But when the doors are closed there is no hope for factory support. The doors at Monaco are still opened but watch them they can hit you in the butt as you leave.

I should say that the new Monaco/Navistar has/does provide free technical support just like the "old" Monaco. This is a great service when something goes wrong or if you need to now where something is or how to take it apart if you are doing add-ons ( I have done many and the tech support is great).

Years ago with our 2000 Windsor Sheila noticed that the frig fans weren't running one evening. We weren't using the coach but it was parked next to the house. It was 7pm on a Saturday night. I traced the problem to a lack of 12 volts and then traced it to the solenoid for the the 12 volt cutoff but I wasn't sure. Called the tech line and got an answering service who took down the information and said a tech would call me within the hour. The tech explained that the solenoids failed in the OFF position (I did tell him they should fail in the ON position) and explained the easiest way to bypass the solenoid. He stayed on the line to make sure that solved the problem. I probably would have figured it out , but it sure was nice to have 24/7 tech support.

I should add that this support is (or at least was under old Monaco) available to dealers/repair shops that are trying to repair a Monaco. I had an electrical chassis problem while on the road and pulled into a RV shop )non-Monaco). The tech spend a few minutes and then said it could take him hours to trace the problem am figure out how to fit it. I gave him the Monaco Tech number. Monaco tech talked to him and he was able to fix it in less than an hour.